WikiLeaks’ Assange confident of winning 'any fair trial' in the US

WikiLeaks said that its founder Julian Assange is confident of winning 'any fair trial' in the U.S. and indicated that the founder of the whistleblowing website would stand by all the promises he had made in return for clemency to Chelsea Manning, the former U.S. soldier who disclosed classified data relating to the Iraq War to the site.

WikiLeaks has recently also been a thorn in the side of the Democrats in the U.S. by releasing embarrassing emails leaked from the Democratic National Committee that showed that the organization had favored candidate Hillary Clinton over her rival Senator Bernie Sanders for the party nomination for the presidential elections. It also published mails from the account of John Podesta, chairman of Clinton's campaign.

Last week, WikiLeaks had tweeted that if “Obama grants Manning clemency Assange will agree to US extradition despite clear unconstitutionality of DoJ case.” On Tuesday, WikiLeaks tweeted that Assange was confident of winning any fair trial in the US. “Obama's DoJ prevented public interest defense & fair jury,” it added. The new administration of President-elect Donald Trump takes charge on Friday.

WikiLeaks also quoted Assange’s counsel Melinda Taylor as saying that Assange is standing by everything that he has said on the “Assange-Manning extradition 'deal'.”

Assange is holed in the embassy in London of the government of Ecuador as U.K. police say they will arrest him if he comes out, to meet an extradition request from Sweden where he is wanted for questioning in a sexual assault investigation. His supporters have expressed concern that if he he is sent to Sweden he could be extradited from there to the U.S. to face espionage charges.

The pending investigation into Assange, mentions of which are said to have been made in court documents in the Manning case, is plainly based on his news gathering and reporting activities, Pollack wrote. Its intention was not to aid U.S. enemies or obstruct justice but to inform people about “matters of great public interest,” he added.

In a statement on Obama's decision to commute Manning's sentence, Assange said that "in order for democracy and the rule of law to thrive, the Government should immediately end its war on whistleblowers and publishers" such as WikiLeaks and himself. The statement did not refer to his promise to face extradition to the U.S.

"Mr. Assange should not be the target of any criminal investigation. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss with the DOJ the status of its investigation, any request it wants to make for extradition, and its basis for such a request," Pollack wrote in an email late Tuesday.

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